Five House Democrats and numerous news media press Biden to step aside. Here’s the list.

As of now there are five House Democrats out of 287 Democrat elected members of Congress and governors asking Biden to end his campaign.

Published: July 6, 2024 8:40pm

Updated: July 6, 2024 10:35pm

The list of Democrats and major news organizations calling for President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic candidate in the presidential election is growing.

The latest news organization to join the list was The Economist.

That news outlet joins a list that now includes: 

As of now, The Washington Post has identified five out of 287 elected Democrats – which includes members of the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and governors – who have called on the president to step down after his June 27 debate with GOP challenger Donald Trump.

Biden’s halting performance raised questions about the 81-year-old Biden's cognitive ability. The five are all House members:

  • Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig: "This is not a decision I've come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency. That's why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward." 
  • Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett: “I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.” 
  • Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva: “What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.” Per an aide in the congressman's office who spoke on the condition of anonymity who wasn't authorized to speak publicly. 
  • Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton: “President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington's footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump.” 
  • Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley: "Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this." 

Others have expressed concern, but no senators or governors have called on Biden to step down.

Forbes has a list of others, including journalists, donors and former elected Democrats who have called on Biden to step down. Their list includes:

  • Julian Castro: The Obama-era secretary of housing and urban development and early 2020 Democratic primary candidate argued Biden should “absolutely” take himself out of the race, saying Vice President Kamala Harris should take over on the Democratic ticket.
  • Former Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio: Biden’s former opponent for the 2020 nomination said he believes Harris is the party’s “best path forward” in a Newsweek op-ed, calling Harris an opportunity for “generational change.”
  • Wealthy Biden supporters: Billionaires Christy Walton, Michael Novogratz and Reed Hastings—all of whom have given to pro-Biden or anti-Trump groups at various points—have urged Biden to step aside, while Mark Cuban has said Democrats should assess whether another person can step in as the nominee.
  • Thomas Friedman: Acknowledging his friendship with Biden and describing how he wept while watching what he called a “heartbreaking” debate, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist wrote that Biden “has no business running for re-election” and the Democratic Party should conduct a new “open process in search of a Democratic presidential nominee.”
  • Nicholas Kristof: In a column published just hours after the debate ended, fellow New York Times columnist Kristof wrote that Biden’s debate performance “reinforced the narrative” he is too old to serve as president, and urged the president to announce his retirement before the convention, giving his delegates the chance to select another Democratic nominee, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown or Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
  • Paul Krugman: “The best president of my life needs to withdraw,” was the headline on a third New York Times columnist’s plea, with Krugman acknowledging “maybe some Biden loyalists will consider this a betrayal, given how much I have supported his policies, but I fear that we need to recognize reality.”
  • David Remnick: The editor of the New Yorker wrote that Biden appeared to “wander into senselessness onstage,” and that remaining on the ticket “would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment.”
  • David Ignatius: Reiterating a view he expressed in a September column that Biden should not run, The Washington Post foreign affairs columnist wrote in a post-debate piece that Biden has been insulated by his close circle of aides and confidants, including his wife, Jill Biden, who have dismissed calls that he should step aside and “have been protective—to a fault.”
  • Mark Leibovich: The Atlantic staff writer and former New York Times Magazine national correspondent headlined his Friday column “Time To Go, Joe,” calling the debate a “disaster” and writing that Biden “looked old, sounded old, and yes, is in fact very, very old.”
  • Joe Scarborough: Declaring that he “love[s]” Biden, the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” (a program Biden reportedly follows closely) gently suggested on Friday’s episode the president should bow out of the race, asking the rhetorical question “if he were CEO, and he turned in a performance like that, would any corporation in America keep him on?”
  • Chandler West: Former White House director of photography from January 2021 through May 2022, West wrote on Instagram that “it’s time for Joe to go,” Axios reported, citing screenshots of West’s story in which he said White House operatives have said privately for months that Biden is “not as strong as he was just a couple of years ago,” and a subsequent text message from West to Axios predicting that the debate is “not gonna be the last” bad day for Biden.
  • James Carville: Biden “shouldn’t be” the nominee, the longtime Democratic political consultant told Politico, after saying the Biden campaign used his name in a post-debate fundraising text without his permission, and also told Axios he thinks Biden will end his campaign before Election Day, paraphrasing a quote by economist Herb Stein, “that which can’t continue . . . won’t.”
  • Andrew Yang: Biden’s former 2020 opponent for the Democratic nomination wrote in his blog Saturday that he was “wrong” for having confidence Biden’s team could prepare him for Thursday’s debate, describing Biden as “old and shuffling” when he saw him in February, while writing that Biden is “running an unwinnable race” and “doing wrong by the country” for continuing his candidacy.
  • Cenk Uygur: Less than 30 minutes into the debate, the host and founder of left-wing political podcast, The Young Turks, who also briefly ran for the Democratic nomination this year, tweeted that the show would “start talking about who should replace Biden. Because at this point it’s obvious that it definitely MUST happen.

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